Decline in Japanese Land Prices
Steepened in '98 With 4.6% Drop

Dow Jones Newswires

Updated March 26, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

TOKYO -- Japanese land prices fell for the eighth consecutive year in 1998, with the decline in average prices steepening to 4.6% on a year-to-year basis from 2.4% in 1997, the National Land Agency said.

In its annual survey, the agency said the steepening reversed the trend of the previous two years, when the decline in national land prices had eased. The price movements are based on prices at Jan. 1 each year, meaning the latest...